Monday, May 7, 2018

Ours was really nice – lots of family time and plenty of FUN! We were busy, but not crazy-busy, which was the perfect balance. I hate it when we have TOO many plans, but I also don’t like wasting away the weekend doing nothing. I mean, you guys know me… I can’t sit still for too long, so some sort of adventure or activity is always welcome! 🙂 Anyway, here’s a recap of our weekend!

Friday

Friday evening was pretty low-key for us. Mal and I needed to finish the photo shoot for my “Shorts That Don’t Suck” blog post because it got rained out the day before. (FYI: I’m planning to publish the post tomorrow!) We were kind of scrambling to take the photos and pick up Quinn from school, but we managed to get him pretty early. Maybe it’s a Mumma thing, but I always try to pick him up early on Fridays. I just miss him so much during the week.

Back at home, we kicked off the weekend with a little happy hour action – we needed to test out our Cabo Caliente recipe for Cinco de Mayo the next day. It turned out great – just click over to my IG feed for the recipe. It’s definitely going to be the “Drink of the Summer!” 🙂 Please note: Quinn eating a lemon in the photo below. 🙂

After happy hour, we ate dinner, got into our “movie suits,” and then snuggled on the couch while watching The Boss Baby, which was really cute – definitely a kid movie that adults will like too!

Saturday

We were up and at ’em on Saturday morning! Quinn was rocking 6:30 AM wake-ups for while, but we’re back to 5:30 AM (or earlier). Now that the sun is up at that hour, it’s not soooo bad, but still… I’d like to sleep in someday! 🙂

We did our usual CrossFit followed by Coffee Shack morning adventure. This time, though, we took our time and grabbed a table. We usually just run in, but we relaxed, ate our donuts/egg sandwiches, sipped our iced coffees/milk, and caught up with some friends who were there too.

After that, we ran a few errands at Target and Trader Joe’s and then headed home. It wasn’t quite lunchtime yet, but I was starving. I only had a couple bites of Quinn’s donut and Mal’s egg sandwich, so my stomach was definitely grumbling! I dug into a bag of Sweet Maui Onion chips from Deep River Snacks. The flavor kind of reminds me of FUNYUNS from my childhood. Remember those onion-flavored rings? At the time, I didn’t know (or care) about the ingredients, but knowing what I know now, I haven’t eaten them in decades!

One of the reasons I love Deep River Snacks is because they believe you shouldn’t have to sacrifice flavor when buying a better-for-you snack. That’s why their fun kettle chip flavors use only real, simple ingredients – no funny artificial stuff. In fact, the base of their chips is just potatoes, sunflower oil, and sea salt, and the flavors are all natural and taste OUT OF THIS WORLD. If you haven’t tried Deep River Snacks yet, keep your eyes open for them in-store and you can always purchase online.

A little while later, we ate lunch together and then Quinn went down for his afternoon nap – he needed to rest up for our Cinco de Mayo festivities at our friends’ house! I actually didn’t take too many photos at the party – I just wanted to disconnect and enjoy my time with our friends. It was such a fun night – there was so much delicious food and so many laughs! We’re really lucky that we have such awesome friends! 🙂

Sunday

Once again, Quinn and I were up and at ’em with the sun. Mal went to run with one of his buddies, so Quinn and I took Murphy for a morning walk around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful morning and such a nice way to start the day! 🙂

Whatever makes him happy, right? We still had a fun time – photo below by Quinn!

After Touch-a-Truck, we headed back to Target to return a rug and then home to eat lunch. After lunch, Quinn went down for a nap while Mal and I got our lives together for the upcoming week. He went to the dump and did some yard work while I did some food prep and finished up the laundry for the week.

We only had a small grocery shopping this week because our freezer and cabinets are packed full of food, and I wanted to use some of it up instead of buying more.

People always ask me how we save money on groceries. My favorite rule of thumb: OVERBUY when your favorites are on sale (meat, fish, pantry staples) and UNDERBUY the rest of the time. You can always dip into your freezer/pantry stash if you run out of something – just be flexible with your menu! Otherwise, you risk wasting food (and money) if you buy too much. This works really well for us – we save money and we don’t waste food!

Hi friends! Boy we got quite the dose of spring all at once last week and into the weekend. Everything bloomed, pollen was everywhere, and I suddenly felt like a walking allergy medicine commercial. I have no idea if I actually have a cold, if pregnancy “swollen passageways” is contributing, or if I’m just having the first case of bad allergies I’ve ever had, but I was feeling all the runny, sneezy symptoms this weekend.

On Friday I met friends on the ACAC roof for breakfast smoothies and quality time before the weekend began.

After a cycle class, I went home to reheat some chili and cornbread for lunch. This meal was so satisfying, and I didn’t feel hungry again until dinner.

Dinner was a special date night in with Blue Apron! We made these potato flake-covered pollock filets with sweet potato fries and a zucchini salad. Delicious!!! I just loved the potato flakes in lieu of breadcrumbs on the fish. Must find some!

The reason for our early dinner in was that I bought tickets to see Chicago at Charlottesville High School! I promised you last weekend I wanted to see more of the arts, and I looked up shows when I got home from Hillsborough to find that the timing was perfect to go to Chicago this weekend. The students did a wonderful job! Chicago is one of my favorite musicals.

After the show, we went out downtown with a group of friends. Bar hopping pregnant isn’t exactly something I want to do often, but I had some miracle energy and this VIRGIN flight of margaritas at Zocalo was just what I needed! I didn’t miss the alcohol one bit.

I did stay out a little too late (it was great to catch up with friends) and thus I was pretty tired on Saturday morning. I can’t sleep in, and so I was dragging a little. You would have thought I had a hangover – haha.

We scooped up Mazen for soccer practice at 9.

Getting some pointers from a pro!

We surprised Mazen was the ultimate treat after soccer – a giant box! You would have thought we’d spent $200 on a Powerwheels or something.

He made a house a home.

He and our neighbor played all day together, including a truck game for a while.

Meanwhile I squeezed in a nap, and had this delicious sandwich on a brioche roll for lunch. Plus an apple!

T sang to the grass

And I prepared pimento cheese tea sandwiches for a Derby party.

Sylvia came over before we left for the party and helped Mazen get dressed up. I found them in our room checking themselves out in the big mirror : )

I took another quick shower and brought out some of my grandmother’s jewelry (Apple Watch not included – haha)

We headed to the party which was packed with kids, big hats, and lots of apps! I had some chicken, a few mini sandwiches, ands lots of veggies dipped in pimento cheese for dinner.

We bet on horses, as usual. The McDermott’s have a great betting set up!

Sadly we lost our $20 as our horses didn’t make the top 3 spots.

After the race we went home to put Mazen to bed. I was asleep by 9:00!!